


Skin Burns Too Hot

by Sexypenguin_bitxhes53



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: 1980's, Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Domestic Violence, I can think things but once I write them down they end up t r a s h, I had to make up the birthdays okay don't j u d g e me, Kissing, M/M, Mike isn't homeschooled, New movie era, Reddie, Richie's parents are assholes, Soulmates, Swearing, The Cast Scene™, no pennywise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-01-08 01:06:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12244119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sexypenguin_bitxhes53/pseuds/Sexypenguin_bitxhes53
Summary: His skin burned, like when he sat outside for too long in the summer and he could feel the sun turning his skin red.Eddie Kaspbrak found his soulmate.Soulmate AU- When a child turns 15, at their time of birth, they receive their soul mark.See notes for more info!! Enjoy :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> BACKGROUND INFO ON SOULMATES:
> 
> •The soul mark is identical to that of your soulmates- the person whose soul has been tied and bound tou your by Fate's String  
> •In some cases, such as Bill and Stan's, it appears in the spot of initial contact between you and your soulmate  
> •If not, then the mark will appear randomly  
> •The first words shared will appear directly about the heart shortly before they are said  
> •It could take seconds or years to discover a soulmate
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading! Tell me how it is and if it's any good!!

Eddie Kaspbrak looked in the mirror. He turned his head to the left, then to the right, running his fingers over his soft skin. He flipped his hair to one side, then to the other, before shaking it out with a frustrated sigh. 

Today was the first day of school. 

Correction: Today was the first day of  _high_ school.

No, one more time: Today. Was  _the first day of highschool. And_ the day he turned 15.  _AND_ the day he gets his mark.

He couldn't breathe.

Eddie Kaspbrak, born August 18, 1975, at 10:32 am, in Derry, Maine, at Derry's Local Hospital Center, would be turning 15 today, and getting his fucking soul mark at 10:32 am, in second hour. 

Holy.  _Shit._

Okay, so it wasn't his 'first day of school'. He was a sophomore. But this was the new and improved Derry High School that had finally been finished, not some shitty K-12 school that they'd had since the beginning of time- that still had 'black' and 'white' washrooms in the old gym for Christ's sake- because the town was too small to build a separate one. Eddie glanced at his clock through the mirror to check the time:

**6:34.**

That's 30 minutes to get to school. He looked at himself one last time, then exhaled heavily breathing deeply a few times, taking a hit from his inhaler just in case. He dug through his drawers and threw on some loose jeans and a plain white shirt, checked his backpack contents one last time, and sped down the stairs.

His attempt to swiftly snatch his shoes and escape out the door was inevitably foiled by his mother, who nagged him about a "hearty breakfast before a big day". So, he shoved down some cereal and washed down his unnecessary pills with some milk. He then slipped his worn shoes on in record time, and raced out the door with a noncommittal "bye mom" wafting behind him. 

* * *

 

Eddie pulled up to Derry High School. He rode to the bike racks, secured his bike, and waited. He was maybe a little bit _too_ early, but punctuality was always a virtue of his anyway. He was buzzing, head turning wildly every 2 seconds in search of his friends.

 

Mike was the first one there. He biked up, stopped, and parked next to Eddie. They greeted each other and clapped each others backs, Mike calmly congratulating him on turning 15, then waited again. Next came Bev and Ben, who walked together through the woods, if the small leaves in Beverly's wild orange hair was anything to go by. They both wished him a happy birthday as Mike had, and Bev handed him a 5 dollar bill and a John Lennon tape. Bill and Stan were the last to get there.

Bill and Stan had turned 15 long before Eddie had, and Stan was introduced to the group with a lopsided Yamaka and a tomato red face, covered in dirt, being steered by an equally as dirty Bill, who was jumping excitedly behind Stam and had exclaimed abruptly, "This is my soulmate!! He was running away from Bowers and he wasn't looking and he rammed right into me!! See??" and pointed to his chin, where the sparrow that had appeared on his now bruising jaw only 3 days before was glowing golden. Stan's fave had impossibly turned redder, and as he ducked his head and turned away to avoid eye contact, they caught a glimpse of the matching gold bird shining brightly on his cheekbone.

"Hey Eddie! Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks guys, aw, man, you didn't have to get me anything!"

Beverly coughed and smiled through closed teeth whispering out a "Yeah,  you _really_ shouldn't have." Bill's gifts were always the best, no matter what the occasion. They all laughed at her, casually conversing together.

"So what's your schedule?"

"Oh, um-", Eddie pulled out a crinkled piece of paper and opened it up, "Chem with Perez- oh fuck not her- History with Kennan- well at least she's nice when it counts- uh, then home room with..  Dalton, anyone? art, lunch, Algebra, PE, and English." he finished.

After everyone shared their schedules, Eddie found out that he had Chemistry with Mike and Ben, History and home room with Bev, Math with Stan, and English with Stan and Bill. He concluded that he was really extremely lucky to have so many classes with his friends, as last hear he only had Biology with Bill, and with that thought, cheerfully walked to first hour with his friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie is happy with his first few weeks of sophomore year, but of course the one and only Henry Bowers Gang has to ruin it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is reeaaally short I'm sorry! I promise I'll lengthen the next few chapters ((:

Eddie seriously felt like he was about to throw up. Just fall out of his desk and hurl all over the linoleum floors of this classroom.

He, Ben, and Mike had formulated a plan during Chemistry. During the break between classes, they hunted down the others to let them know; Eddie was going to find his mark at 10:32, which was about 15 minutes to the end of second hour. They decided that anyone who wanted to witness the unveiling of little Eddie's first grasp at the concept of romance in general should ask to go to the bathroom at approximately 10:25 ( _because,_ Stan, we need time to marvel!) (you can marvel at anyone's mark! Why does it matter so much!).

Since Bev and Eddie were in the same class, they couldn't both ask to go. So, that left Eddie and Bev to do what they did best; panicking and lying. Respectively. 

"Miss Kennan- Miss Kennan oh jesus lord help me- I can't  _breathe ma'am-"_

At her cue, Beverly stood and rushed to Eddie's side. She lifted him, 'helping him stand' with one arm as his chest rose and fell sporadically.

"Ma'am, I have his extra inhaler in his locker, I'm going to take him out."

Miss Kennan looked absolutely petrified, and nodded her head immediately, sputtering out weak approvals before they were completely out of the room. Once they were a few feet away, Beverly dropped Eddie and he gasped, coughing a bit, "I actually got a little light headed from that."

He checked his watch as they fast walked to the locker room, the designated room of rendezvous.

"It's 10:31!"

They ran in, met by Ben and Bill, and Eddie immediately started stripping down to his underwear, counting down the seconds.

"5 seconds, oh jesus fuck!"

When Eddie screamed, "Now!" they all began searching the back of his body as he peered down at the front. Suddenly Bev squealed, flapping her arms to get their attention.

"It's here! The side of your neck Eddie, it's glasses!" Eddie pulled his pants on and ran to the mirror stretching his neck sideways and looking through his peripherals. His eyes caught sight of it, in the shape of big, coke bottle glasses, like what his mother would have worn as a kid. They all cheered and clapped him on the back and he smirked proudly, glad to be one step up in life for once.

 

Eddie and the rest of the gang went through their next hours normally, Bev giggling to Eddie through homeroom, until a sudden loud crash! tore them from their conversation. They looked up, eyes wide in search of the noise, when the door whacked open and in tumbled a student probably their age, no less. He looked like he had just come out of the seventies, all curly hair and graphic tee and ripped jeans. He ran up to the teacher and huffed for a while before handing her a slip of paper and rushing out again. The day after that went normal as before, Eddie showing Mike and Stan his mark and biking home relatively smiley. He parked his bike back in his garage, danced up the stairs and avoided his sleeping mother, and that night, he dreamt of an odd figure with big coke bottle glasses that he could swear to have never seen in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who may be confused at all, I decided to split the chapter a little! After rereading it, i realized it would look better if I ended it before the switched scene and used aforementioned scene as a starter. I think it'll just run a little smoother and be easier to work with !! :*


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those coke bottle glasses just looked so familiar..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised a chapter! I'll try to update again after band practice tonight, we'll see how tired I am

> The next two were some of the best weeks of Eddie's life. With the excitement of his new mark, he and his friends fooled around everywhere. They went to the theatre after school, hung out at the barrens, and tumbled through the town high on teenage years. Until the next Saturday when he was on his way home after a great time at Bill's.

He had left his bike at home since they had all walked over together, and hadn't want to bother Bill's mom for a ride. So he opted to walk home, maybe enjoy some beautiful Maine scenery. About halfway there, something stopped him. A blue car, driving slowly down the road. The driver spotted him and stopped, and Eddie halted in his tracks in fear. Everything in his being was saying 'RUN AWAY' but his legs seemed stuck, and he gulped painfully as Henry Bowers jumped from the car. He smirked evilly, stalking over smoothly and leaning over Eddie's tiny frame easily.

"Well, well? Who have we here? What's a loser like you doin without his little buddies? It's pretty dangerous out here alone, you know." Henry crouch down to his height mouth next to Eddie's ear.

"F-fuck off Bowers.", Eddie whimpered with whatever balls he had left. Henry sneered standing straight again and shaking his head, turning away slightly before spinning back and punching Eddie straight in the gut. Eddie let out a pained 'oof', falling to the ground hard. Henry picked him back up, throwing him over to Patrick, who had gotten out of the car after him. Patrick held onto his arms and Eddie weakly protested, jerking in his hold as Henry's hand caressed his face lightly before backhanding him harshly. Eddie's head snapped sideways and he yelped, barely being able to recover before another punch was landed to his stomach. He wheezed loudly head hanging down as Henry prepared to sock him again. However, it never came; instead, his ears rang with a low whistle and the sound of bike tires screeching.

"Yo, Bowels, why don't you come get some fresh meat, huh? I'm aaaall yours!"

Eddie lifted his head slightly at the sound, but was dropped to the floor before he could actually see anything. "I'll fucking kill you, kid!" was the last thing he heard before his head hit the road hard and he blacked out for a moment.

* * *

 

_"I'll fucking kill you kid!"_

Eddie jumped, eyes popping open as he started, the words playing in a loop in his head. He groaned at the pain in sent between his eyes and squeezed them closed again, blinking a few times slowly.

"What the fuck..?"

He sat up, looking around him and observing his location. Whose house was this? Whose room? It looked lived in, Pink Floyd and Elvis posters covering the dark turquoise walls and comic books littering the carpeted floor. Eddie slowly hung his feet over the edge of the bed, admiring the admittedly adorable Batman sheets, before standing fully and making his way to the door. He creaked it open cautiously, peeking out from the crack to check if anyone was there before deciding the coast was clear and tiptoeing down the stairs. Searching around the living room, he found his shoes, not even bothering to slip them on before he picked up his backpack and made his way to the door. As soon as his hand touched the handle, though, a voice rang behind him and he jumped 50 feet into the air, shoes flying across the room as he shrieked in fright.

"Wo-hooh, hey dude, don't get your granny panties in a twist! Oh shit, sorry, habit. Hey, there's nothing to be scared of. Just the good ol' neighborhood move in, okay, please don't murder me."

Eddie turned around, clutching his chest, and stared wide eyed at the boy standing there. He was tall, well not really, but taller that Eddie, and he wore a Pink Floyd low-pitted tank top and black jeans. His mess of hair sat unruly upon his head, as if the boy had just given up on trying to make it behave. His face was swollen on one side, covered with a bruise that wasn't brand new, but was no more than a day or two old. In his hands he was wiping the lenses of a pair of glasses with a rag, which he shortly shoved into his pocket to slip them on. They magnified his ~~beautiful, bright, clear as the ocean~~ blue eyes hugely, but Eddie supposed it fit him just the same to have cartoon eyes since he was _definitely_ quite the character. He smiled geekily towards Eddie and Eddie looked almost affronted, but he still offered a small, confused smile back.

The boy rocked on his heels slightly, whistling awkwardly and popping his lips, until he stopped, and clapped, holding his hand out for Eddie.

"Uh, names Richard. Uh, well, Richie. They-people- call me.. Richie. Yeah."

Eddie nodded slowly, taking a baby wipe out of his backpack and holding it between their hands as he slowly took it.

"Um. hi. Jesus Christ, what happened to your face? And why am I here? ..Where even am I??"

The boy, Richie's, eyes widened and he floundered, 

"Oh! Um. Yeah. This is my house, hi. I mean- shit what the fuck? No, okay, wait yes this  _is_ my house but- oh Jesus fuck-" Richie gargled, head in his hands as he turned away from Eddie with a red face to go in the books. Eddie found it pretty amusing, would probably laugh out loud if he had any less of a heart, but instead he just stood there, waiting for Richie to collect himself. Richie took a breath in, and exhaled, then turned around to start again.

"This is definitely my house. I brought you here, because, I was riding home and I saw Bitch ass Bowels fucking you up, so I distracted his shitty little posse and turned them around in the city and when I came back you were out fucking cold so, I brought you back here. To my house. I'm Richie Tozier. Hi."

Richie had taken a grand total of about 2 breathes in that whole sentence and his face was red, but Eddie couldn't help the snicker that came out at how awkward he was. I mean, he could relate, so.

"Okay, hi Richie Tozier. I'm Eddie Kaspbrak. You said you just moved here? And you're already fucking with the Bower's Gang? That's some brass balls you got there." Richie smiled, ~~something Eddie wanted to see literally forever,~~ and looked so incredibly relieved that Eddie almost felt it.

"Yeah, well, they fucked with me first."

"You still didn't tell me about your face."

Richie blushed pink, hand unconsciously coming up to feel his swollen cheek. He hissed slightly and dropped it, looking everywhere but Eddie's face.

"Um. Bowers. You know. Chase. Yeah." But Eddie didn't buy it that fast and quickly continued the point,

"You said you rode away on your bike and lost them in the city. That means they didn't catch you and that's not an old bruise, buddy." Richie's blue eyes flashed with something akin to anger, or maybe anxiety, and he huffed.

"Look, I told you, okay, so just drop it." He clutched the end of his top and plopped onto his couch. It was silent for a while just on the edge of awkward so Eddie also sat down, hastily piping up,

"So.. Have you been to school? What's your schedule?"

Richie looked up and breathed out, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to Eddie: his schedule.

"I went to school on the first day, but I left early and haven't been back. My dad's needed some help with a project, and he asked me to help him out so he excused me from like, school stuff. It's finished now, though. He went back to New York or something." Richie finish with a tone that Eddie couldn't really place, but it hurt him to hear it. He uncrumpled the piece of paper and read it over.

**1\. Drama- Calhoun, R.**

**2\. English II- Black,**

**3\. Homeroom- Dalton, M.**

**4\. Chemistry- Stump, P.**

**5\. LUNCH--**

**6\. History- Hochhalter, D.**

**7\. PE- Kellenher, S.**

**8\. Algebra II- Giner, K.**

"Woah, we have three classes together!", Eddie exclaimed. Richie's head shot up and he smiled, scooting over to look wirh Eddie.

"Really? Which ones?"

Eddie pointed out the classes, Homeroom, PE, and Algebra, when a thought struck him. He thought back to the first day of school, in homeroom, when the strange student had burst in. He suddenly remembered distinct curly locks, and ridiculously large coke bottle specs. He glanced over at Richie who was smiling at the paper, and remembered vaguely his sweaty, wild, unfocused face, how he'd looked like he had 10 seconds to catch a bus to his mom's funeral, and the small trip when he flew from the room without a word, probably already 5 seconds too late for that bus. 

"So, you wanna like, hang out for a while? I'm here alone and it would be cool to have someone to play my Nintendo with."

Eddie snapped out of his thoughts, looking up at Richie for a few seconds before catching on and quickly agreeing. Richie's grin was  ~~the brightest thing in the whole universe, brighter than god himself~~ contagious, and Eddie soon found himself smiling back as they moved up to his room. On his way up, a little thought tingled in his mind: he _knew_ he had seen those glasses before.


	4. An Inside View

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie's totally, completely gay for the new kid in town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short, but i really liked how it turned out so I'm gonna go for it!
> 
> I'm thinking about how Richie's gonna find out exactly, if anyone has some short suggestions to lead into it, comment to help a desperate terrible author!!

 

 

> Dear Journal,
> 
>  So I met this kid today. I usually wouldn't talk about this kinda stupid shiz but like this is way more important that Bill slipping and almost dying at the Barrens because he wanted to sneak attack Stan.
> 
>  His name is Richie. And holt shit. He's the brightest person I've ever seen in my life. Ever. He like, glows. Especially when he smiles. He saved me from Bowers today, I think, and there's this huge bruise on his face that he says he got from him. I don't believe it. It looks too d. But oh well I guess.. that's not really my business. I feel bad though. 
> 
> Also, I wrote something down in my dream journal a few nights ago, about a guy in my dream and his shitty glasses? That was Richie!!! Richie has these big ass glasses that look like he taped magnifying lens' to his face. But I like them. They make his eyes look really blue. I mean, obviously his eyes were already blue, but they make it more obvious. And then with his dark curly hair he's just.. ugh. I feel like I shouldn't say this. Or think it. Or feel it. But you know what? I wish Richie would be my soulmate. I haven't seen his mark yet, but that would be too easy. Right? Or would it make sense that fate drew us closer? I dunno. What I do know, though, is that my mom will be so, totally disappointed to know that I'm totally, completely gay for the new kid in town.

 

Eddie dropped his pencil, sighing as he fell back on his bed. It was there in that position that he realized how grody he was. He cringed at the smell of himself and stood, making his way to the shower. He turned the water on, sighing as he slowly stripped off his clothes. After fully stripping down, he stood up straight, doing what every barely pubescent teenager does; admiring himself in the mirror. But as he raised his head, he couldn't help but let out a small shriek and cover his mouth. There, on his chest, were _fucking_ words. Words that looked like they were written in black ink, but that he knew would never, ever come off.

_"Woah, don't get your granny panties in a twist."_

Eddie stared at the words for 5 straight minutes, poking and prodding them as if they'd start dancing. Then realization dawned on him once more, and he whipped his head around, searching desperately for his mark. There, on his neck, was a pair of ugly, tacky, coke bottle glasses, left just how they had been yesterday and the day before and the week before too, only now glowing a brilliant gold. Eddie could have fainted. In fact, he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it as much as I did :3 tell me if you think this is good enough to continue! I don't wanna keep it up if it sucks but if enough people like it, then well, supply and demand I suppose 


	5. 2 Oceans? Nah, Dude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie's entrys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Okay, first off, I'd like to apologise for being gone for so long, y'all are so nice and supportive of this fic and I wanted to continue it as far as I could.
> 
> Unfortunately, I was in the hospital for a while. But, I'm back now, and I have some mediocre writing for you all!!! Thanks to all who still wanna read this

 

 

> Entry 87              8-12-2017
> 
> 8:14 am
> 
> Today is the first day of school in this town. Did I mention I hate this town? Yeah? 10 entries in row? Good, cool, just checking. It sucks here. Littered with homophobes and ugly ass guys. Everyone's a bitch. They have a gang here, with like 5 little bastards in it, and dear lord would they cower in fear if they had to go the Jersey for even a week. Buncha pussies. So yeah it's 8 and I'm late but I have to walk to school so I'm gonna take my damn time. Just thought I'd "express my feelings healthily" for once (:
> 
> * * *
> 
> Entry 89             8-26-2017 
> 
> 7:46 pm
> 
> Okay
> 
> Okay
> 
> Okay dude okay
> 
> So I just met the hottest cutest most unbelievably ADORABLE KID EVER. okay okay
> 
> So I was goin down the street right, comin back from the comic store, and I g o down my block, and I see the one and only Henry the Bitch Bowel Movement Bowers punching the daylights outta someone
> 
> So like the hero I am I pulled him over and was like 'hey yo come at me fucker' and got him away from there and all the way to the other side of fuckin' town, and I go back to the kid and i check his pulse right, and like, he's dead, I'm like 'oh shit now what', so I bring him home.
> 
> Then he like woke up a little and he opened his eyes and _dude,_ he's so pretty, sososo pretty I literally think I'm gonna die from how amazingly bright he is.
> 
> Okay so his looks. He's got brown hair, chocolate brown, and it's so curly and cute jksofmlhkfhnodn
> 
> His eyes match his hair but they're more bright, like they have another color in them. And he dresses so _cute,_ like you know those pastel punk edits? He's a living one of those! The pastel to my punk <3
> 
> But serious talk, I think I felt something when we met. I felt like, a click, like my vision cleared a little and something weird, some weird feeling came into me, as cheesy as that shit sounds, I literally felt something appear that wasn't there before. If I had half a brain, I'd think it was that soulmate shit. But there's no way that exists. Like, what if someone's soulmate lives in New Mexico and they live in New Guinea? That's like, 2 oceans away. They'd never find each other. It's illogical. If an imaginary string can go over 2 big ass oceans and connect 2 randomly chosen people, then I'm a chick named Deborah from Morraco.
> 
> Anyway though, if it means anything, I wouldn't mind being connected to Eddie Kaspbrak from Derry, Maine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me if these kinda chapters are good or annoying! All feedback helps
> 
> Also: looking for internet friends hmu on these inboxes and I'll give my insta I'm desperate for more ppl who I can relate to


	6. 2 Oceans? Well. Maybe.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lunch-scapade with the Losers +1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. I need someone to remind me to update. I suck ass.

"Hey, Eddie!"

Eddie jumped from where he had been carefully rearranging his lunch at the table. He turned his head and smiled lightly back at Bill and Stan, who were making their way over with their lunch trays.

"Hey guys. God, how can you eat that shit? It smells like dog shit!"

"It probably is." Bill joked, snickering at Stan when he scrunched up his face. They continued to small talk for a while, and eventually the whole table had arrived except for Bev.

" So, Eddie, how's that mark doin'?"

Eddie turned to look at Mike's smirking face. He could feel his face turning red, and quickly tried to turn his mind away from Richie and his face and hair and eyes-

"You know. It's going. Can't think of much that could happen in a week or two."

" or three-"

"I mean the most that could happen is you could, you know, find your soulmate? I'll bet it's Mrs. Smitz!"

Ben laughed at himself and Bill joined in, and soon the two were puffing on a whole production with each other, starring Bill as Mrs. Smitz and Ben as Eddie himself. The others got a kick out of it as well, and everyone and but Eddie was quickly laughing at the idiots.

Amidst the oh-so-amusing performance, no one noticed a new arrival to the table. Except, of course, Eddie. 

"BEV!", He yelled, happy to get the attention off of stupidity, "heyyy, you're here! Finally. Seriously, ugh. Thank god."

Bev giggled and plopped next to Eddie, but instead of going directly next to him, she sat a foot away. Eddie was confused, until he wasn't."

"Guys! Meet Richie. He's new! We have some classes together. Richie this is Stan, Bill, Ben, Mike, and Eddie." She pointed to each of them as she called their names, and Eddie once again felt himself turn bright red.

"Heya. Nice to meet you all. I'm, uh, Richie."

Although he was addressing the group, his eyes were focused on Eddie. Eddie turned his head away, blushing more than he ever had in his entire life. Richie moved to sit in the spot where Eddie was previously, and Eddie could have died. Literally. He felt Richie's side stare in his soul. He tried his best to keep his own gaze trained to his sandwich holding it between his fingers awkwardly.

"Hey dude. You gonna eat that?"

Eddie's head snapped up to Richie, bewildered. Richie looked actually questioning but his eyes held a secret that only Eddie could see. His eyes switched between the sandwich and Richie, and, unsure what to do, he just shook his head and passed it over. Richie gave a satisfied nod, taking a huge bite once he got it.

"Wait, what?? Uh, I asked for your yogurt yesterday, and you almost bit my head off. Why does he get your sandwich?"

Unable to answer Stan through the is own confusion, Eddie just shrugged. 

* * *

 

Lunch after that went semi-normal. There was, of course, Richie, the odd one out. But he fit in almost too well, like he had known them all his whole life. Richie was even, dare Eddie say,  _tolerable_ for a while. Then, as Richie goes, he wasn't. 

"Hey, Eds."

Eddie rolled his eyes at the whisper in his ear, but still answered back, "what?"

Richie's eyes held an odd glint as he leaned over again.

"You never thanked me properly for the other day, you know."

Eddie sighed, turning to look him in the face. 

"Yeah. I did. That day. Do you have a memory problem or what?"

Richie laughed, way too loud for their extremely quiet conversation, and shook his head.

"Can't a prince get a nice kiss from his damsel?"

Eddie spluttered, cheeks turning pink. Richie snickered at his shocked face, hand moving discretely to mess with the hem of his pink sweater, fingers brushing over his legging clad thigh ever so lightly, making him blush harder.

"So, how about it? Was saving you from the evil dragon enough to win me a smooch, soulmate bull or not?"

"R-Richie, can we- can we do this later? With less... people?"

He squirmed under Richie's touch and Richie cooed, rubbing his side before taking his hand away.

"'Course, sweetcheeks. I'll be waiting for that answer."

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and start of 6th hour, and Eddie and Richie bounded off to class unaware that Bev was the only one who had witnessed their interaction.


End file.
